The primary concern of the MNS at this seminar arises from the unveiling of the KL Draft City Plan2020. “The issue of city planning and green lung conservation is of utmost importance. As such, we at the MNS feel that this seminar would be a good opportunity for the wider community to come together and address the issue with feedbacks and inputs from the relevant people and authorities.”
The suburb I live in, was an oil palm estate before redevelopment. The whole parcel is sub-divided and owned by various parties. Most parcels have already been developed but those that have not, all the oil palm was cut down and the land just left to overgrow with acacia and lallang. I constantly question the wisdom of cutting down trees that are not in anyone’s way or a threat to safety.
So firstly, why cut down the oil palm trees if development is not going to take place immediately? Why can't the trees be left to support the existing habitat and provide refuge for wildlife until such time as development begins?
Secondly, if the landowners do clear the land and not immediately commence development, then they should be made responsible to plant easily manageable crop for the community and/or allow the surrounding community to cultivate the land with non-woody plants. My suggestion of non-woody plants is so that it is easier to clear when development does begin.
Idle land can be planted with bananas, papayas, serai, lengkuas, kantan and such like for the community to help themselves. These plants propagate easily and hardly require maintenance except from nature's goodwill. Now with food shortage and escalating prices, cleared and abandoned land should be fully utilised to provide for the people. The landowner can clearly state on a notice board, the details of ownership of the land and that no permanent structure or resident can legally take tenancy on the land. Until development arrives, the vacant land can be cultivated by the surrounding community.
Make a visit to Bandar Harapan in Ara Damansara one day.
It is a very interesting community project on land below high-tension pylons. Here anyone can cultivate a small allotment of land, harvest produce for themselves, while the excess goes towards the underprivileged community that maintains it i.e for the purchase of fertilizer. It is fully organic. I spoke to a 'farmer' there one day. He was a man who loves gardening but because he stays in an apartment, he cannot live his passion in his concrete box. Instead he says, the Bandar Harapan provides him an avenue to cultivate a garden and help the underprivileged at the same time. The harvest is sold to the public on Sundays.
Let’s put wasteland to good use, and leave our forests alone to do their god-given job.
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Ara Damansara Reality Files
